We had done our last Himalayan trekking in July 2011 to
Valley Of Flowers. Since then, I was visiting all the honeymoon places (Kerala,
Goa, Manali etc.) after my marriage in Dec 2011. Jassi, my best friend and
co-trekker had also tied the knot in Jan 2012 and hence, we both were busy in
our family lives. As our kids are grown and we had bit time, so we decided to
visit the Himalaya again. Looking at many options, we finalized “Kedarkanth”, “Hark
Ki Doon” and “Ruinsara” Lake for the trekking. Since, one of Jassi’s friends
had done “Har ki doon” and reviews were good, so without thinking much, we
finalized “Har Ki Doon” and kept “Kedarkanth” as the plan B in case of heavy
snowfall or something like that.
In Dec’
2015, I took the responsibility of all the bookings. Jassi introduced Mr. Rahul
as our third partner for this trek. I had never met him, but relying on Jassi,
I said OK to him. So, I made the bookings for all (Only travel bookings) and
started preparing check list for the trek. We had learnt a lot from our VOF
trek and hence wanted to be prepared well this time. I am in Pune and Jassi and
Rahul are in Indore so, we decided to meet in Delhi. After bookings, I prepared
and emailed the checklist.
March 23 & 24,
2016: PUNE – Delhi, Indore-Delhi, Delhi-Dheradun.
On 23rd March 2016, I
took the train “Goa Express” from PUNE in the morning 4:00 AM. I knew that the journey
is going to be boring so, I had already ordered two books for the Journey, “The
Immortals of Meluha” and “The secret of Nagas”. I reached Delhi at 6:30AM and
by that time, first book was completed.
On 24th March 2016’
morning, we met at Cumsum on Nizamuddin Railway station Delhi. Our next train to
“Dehradun” was at 11:30 AM so we decided to take our breakfast at Cumsum. Once
the order is placed, we came to know that the rate list at cumsum is just to
misguide the customers. We had to pay just double than what we calculated, the
guy at counter said, rate list is not updated. With the frustration, we decided
to utilize cumsum for our time pass as we had already paid much. At 11:30AM, we
caught the train and reached Dehradun at around 8 PM. The route from “Haridwar”
to “Dehradun” is scenic and we started smelling the great Himalaya.
By
reading so many blogs, I was aware about the “Rikshawalas” (Auto/Taxi Drivers)
at Dehradun station so was careful. “Never
ever believe on these guys for hotels or any information. They work only to get
money from you and will give you any silly and wrong information.” We also
welcomed by one such Rikshawala. He tried to convince us that he will manage
cheapest but the best hotel for us (“Hotel BALAJI hi best hai sir”, he said),
he will drop till hotel and in morning, he will again drop us to the best bus
for the Sankri at absolutely no cost. As I was aware, so we said OK to him and
headed to the “Masoori Bus Stop” which is just beside the railway station. Here
we came to know about all the true options to reach Sankri. We said bye-bye to
that “Rikshawala” who was still following us and decide to stay in nearby cheap
hotel and to catch the 6:30 AM bus for Purola. Checked into a hotel (600
INR/Room for 3 of us), taken dinner at nearby restaurant and gone to bed.
Information:
There is only one private bus which goes directly from Dehradun to Sankri. It
leaves at 5:30AM from ISBT bus stand which is 5-6 km from Railway Station and
reaches to Sankri at 4 PM. This bus takes a long route via. Vikas Nagar and
hence takes long time. Other and best option is to take 6:30AM bus from Masoori
Bus Stand (Beside Railway Station, come before 6.00AM on ticket window to get
the front seats) which will take you to Purola at around 12.00 noon and catch
the other bus from Purola at 12:30 PM which reaches Sankri at 4:00 PM. There
are few other options like 8:15 AM bus from Masoori Bus Stand which takes you
till Purola. You might not get any direct option from Purola to Sankri and you
may have to break your journey from Purola to Mori to Natwar to Sankri by
shared taxis. This will increase the traveling cost as well as travel time.
There are few more options from Vikas Nagar which is 30 km from Dehradun.
March 25, 2016: Dehradun
to Purola to Sankri.
We woke up early in the morning; Rahul went early to get the
bus tickets. Till that time, I and Jassi got fresh and packed our bags and
joined Rahul on bus stop. Luckily we got the first seat, just behind the
driver. Later, we realized that he was not driver; he was “The Pilot”. Jassi
was hungry and did a mistake, he took omelet’s breakfast. I and Rahul have good
control on hunger and skipped the breakfast. Though, Jassi took the
Anti-Vomiting tablet (Avomine), still he started feeling uneasy before
“Masuri”. Rahul was in full confidence that he never had such problems in any
travel. “The Pilot” was in full form and we were considering every turn as our
last turn of life. As soon as we crossed “Masuri”, he was Rahul who first
vomited. As soon as he did, I and Jassi asked him to leave window seat as we
both were about to do the same. I took the window seat and Jassi sat on my legs
and we started soon one by one. I was praying, God please keep it sequentially
as we have only one window. Thank god, I did not eat anything and it was just
water coming out. After few minutes, Rahul again came in line and looking at
us, he managed to get other window. It was going on and one good thing
happened. Driver, as expected, did not notice a taxi on a turn and there was a
small accident. Yes, it was a good thing. Everyone came out of the bus to get
bit relax. Taxi driver and bus driver was arguing, “You did this, you did that”
and without bothering them, everyone was busy in getting fresh air, drinking
water and getting ready for the remaining journey. We all were praying, please
keep your argument for half an hour at least, it was the “must need” break.
After 5 minutes, when we got bit normal, we observed the drivers arguments. How
polite they were to each other. (Are bhai aapki hi galti thi, aap ko hi dekhna chahiye
tha etc.). We compared if the same had happened in Indore than what would have
been the situation, much different. After 15-20 minutes, both the drivers came
at the conclusion (Don’t know what that was) and with no options left, we had
to enter again to the bus. Now the driving was bit slow and rest of our journey
till “Purola” was good along with the great “Yamuna” river. We reached to “Purola” by 12.00 Noon.
I and Rahul taking a nap after bus accident |
In
“Purola”, we got the other bus to Sankri which was about to leave by 12:30PM.
It was the same bus which left from ISBT “Dehradun” at 5:30AM. This is a
Dabba/Khatara bus as compared to the previous. We had to keep our bags on top,
as there was no space in bus even for our legs. I am very strict about my bag
getting dirty and I asked Jassi to keep my bag safe from dust as he was loading
the bags. Jassi and Rahul named my bag as “Bagwati”. There are also many taxis
ready to go till “Mori”. We avoided the lunch and taken oranges only. Bus
started at the right time and soon, we started feeling the cold. In our
Journey, first time we were able to see what is around us and the scenic views
of Himalaya. We did get the last seat in the bus, but as the route was good and
driving was slow, we were enjoying the journey. After Mori, we came to the
forest check post at “Natwar” and all the “Tourists” are asked to come out to
pay the entry fee. We paid 1000 INR + 500 INR as refundable deposit for 3 of us
for 6 days with one tent. Yes, tent does matter in their calculations. Don’t
even try to know how they calculate the fees. Give them what they ask, it is
usually nominal. By sharp 4:00 PM, we reached at Sankri. Total cost of travel
was around 325 INR per head.
Sankri To Taluka by
Taxi: Sankri is 1900 meter above sea level, but don’t believe in numbers
here, I will explain it later. We got a taxi immediately for Taluka in just Rs
50 per head. It is only 11-12 KM distance but 50 rs worth it. We chose to sit
on top of the taxi with few village kids. Oh
My God!!!!, exactly this was the feeling when we moved to Taluka. A deep valley
at left, mountains at right and a very narrow road with very sharp turns. We
were feeling like traveling on Aladdin’s flying carpet (Aladdin ki udne wali
chadar).
I am (In blue), Jassi (Green) and Rahul (White) on top of the taxi. Flying to Taluka |
Buransh, the state tree of Uttrakhand State |
Suddenly, we saw a big tree loaded with beautiful red
flowers. We were seeing this after “Purola” but now it was very close that even
we can get flowers while traveling. We asked about it to the kids and they
said, “It is Uttrakhand’s State Tree, Buransh”.
Jassi started getting
some historical information about villages with a man sitting with him. Before
6 PM, we reached to Taluka. What a beautiful journey it was, Jassi said, “I am
satisfied with the trip even if we could not go to the HKD valley”. In Taluka,
only we were the tourist on that day and entire GMVN guest house was empty. So,
we booked a room in guest house with 170/head. I shaved (Yes, regular shaving
is kind of must for me)and took a bath in cold water as there is no electricity
so hot water was not available, Jassi and Rahul relied on their deodorants. One Nepali kaka cooked a dinner for us and his
little daughter “Parvati” served us the dinner. They are very humble people,
pay bit extra if you can. After lots of adventure, we were taking good rest at
our starting point of the trek.
March 26, 2016: Taluka
to Osla/Seema:
Ready to go |
Whole night we were hearing the winds sound and when we woke
up, it was raining. OMG!! Can the weather forecast be so true? Believe me; you
must check the weather forecast on “weather.com” or other websites before
leaving. In our case, it got 100% true for all 6 days. Anyways, we took “Aalu
ke parathe” in breakfast and also packed same for our lunch. We paid total 1000
INR for stay and food including dinner, breakfast and packed paratha’s and 50
for “Parvati” for her excellent service. The smile on her face was worth more
than 50, believe me. There are two boards; one in front of the GMVN guest house
says “2400 meters above sea level”. Other near Forest guest house which says,
“2100 meters above sea level”. That is why I said, don’t believe in numbers
here, you’ll get few more examples. Anyways, we had already decided not to take
guide or potter because an extra tent was not affordable just for the guide. As
much as we enquired, route seems to be easy and straight forward. So, with
raincoats and rain covers, we started our trek at 9:15AM. The board at forest
guest house says, “Har Ki Doon 27KM”. “You should follow this path”, a lady
said from behind, as soon as we left Taluka and took the upper path. Thank god,
we got the right path at the starting, later we realized that we cannot afford
going on wrong paths. It was the left path from taluka which goes down to the
river “Tons”. Once we started, route was very easy, just needed to follow the
arrows.
Soon, we got a board says, “Har Ki Doon 25KM” and we
relaxed, “waaoo, we are going faster than expected” I thought. Soon we got
adjusted to the things we were carrying and in about 2 hours, rain stopped. We
took raincoats back into our bags and waaoo!!, what a beautiful route it was.
The river “Tons” was at its best, long trees of “Deodar” were touching the sky,
“Buransh” trees in between like the heart of the jungle and what a tranquil, only
sounds of birds and tons river, other than our chatting. Few snow covered peaks
were welcoming us. On the way when we were resting, we met with Mr. Prateek,
who was a solo trekker from Delhi, came to celebrate his Birth Day. We did not
know that he is going to be our fourth partner for rest of the trek. At around
1:30 PM, we got a board says, “Har Ki Doon” is 21KM”. OMG!!, we have covered
just 4KM from last mile stone? (Again, don’t believe in numbers, they don’t
seem correct). At around 2:00PM, we got to a maggi stall. We had packed parathas
so we took our lunch here.
We continued our trek and just
before the village “Gangad”, met with a couple returning from the trek. The
girl suggested us, not to go “Osla” (our next stop), rather go to “Seema” just
to avoid the steep uphill. Osla is at
the left side of the river whereas, Seema is at right side. Soon we reached to
Gangad and till that time, Rahul was about to surrender. It was 4 PM and we
were 3 KM behind our next stop. Gangad is the best village you will see in this
trek, will explain much later. Our frequency of stoppage had increased. On one
such stop, when we asked “how far Osla is?” to a lady, she said, “Abhi to door hai, 7 KM aur chalna hai”
(It is far about 7 Kms). OMG!! Are we really going to get Osla today? Now, I
was worried about Rahul and I took the lead. Soon we saw the village OSLA,
phew… here we decided not to believe in numbers and local people. They are not
aware about the actual facts and they don’t bother about it. When I asked about
the temperature in Taluka, a man said, “Abhi
kaha sir, zero to thand mai hota hai jab warf girti hai” (Temperature goes
to zero in winter). We realized his mean by zero is the minimum temperature.
At one point, you will see a bridge
which takes you to the other side of river and following that you will reach to
Osla. For Seema, you don’t have to cross the river. Remember, there is steep
uphill to Osla. Though, it looks easy but at the end of the day trek, it is
really very difficult. Thanks to that girl, we decided to move to Seema. When
we reached to Seema, we realized that “Seema
is not at all a village”. There is only GMVN guest house, one temple and
one shop. All were closed and we realized the information given by girl was not
complete. Luckily, we had our own food arrangement and tent so staying in Seema
was not an issue for us. Though, Prateek was criticizing the girl for
incomplete information but I and especially Rahul was thankful to her. Rahul
was not in a condition to climb to Osla. We opened our tent, cooked maggi and
after lots of gossip, went to sleep.
Information: If you have your stay and food arrangements or if you
have booking in GMVN, Seema route is the best. If you don’t have tent or food,
you have to go to OSLA. You can stay there in any villager’s home with food at
nominal charges. GMVN at Seema and HKD opens only when they have advance
bookings. So make sure you book in advance. Online booking is available for all
GMVN guest houses. I guess, from mid-April, they will be opened but then it is
hard to get rooms without prior bookings.
March 27, 2016: Seema
to Somewhere before 5KM of HKD Valley:
Maggi Shop Stop.. a good place to rest and see the beauty |
I woke up first and arranged hot water for the group. We
decided to eat readymade food on the way, so we started trek soon at around
8:15AM. As soon as we crossed the bridge, there was a steep uphill. Today, it
was all uphill trekking and our target was HKD valley. After 2 hours with many
breaks in between, we reached to a maggi shop. Rahul, Jassi and Prateek took
breakfast cum lunch there. I was OK with my mamma’s ready to eat food.
The Place where Rahul surrendered. This is taken by Rahul only in Return Journey |
Till this point, we had hardly covered 3Km and Rahul’s
condition was not hidden. Anyways, I and Rahul started trek first followed by
Jassi and Prateek. There was again a steep climb and suddenly weather also
changed. There was a “Snow Fall”, my life’s first. Waaooo!!! Tiny particles of
snow were flying all around. We again packed with raincoats and rain covers and
continued our uphill trekking. At the next flat patch, we took a long break as
Rahul was tired and there we could see a long.. actually very long steep climb.
Base Camp in the Evening, white tent is ours |
Rahul collected his all the energy and started again and
soon he surrendered fully. OMG!!! How we are going to make it now? Prateek went
ahead to see the route, I took Jassi’s small bag and Jassi took Rahul’s bag pack.
It was really difficult to trek with two big bag packs and Rahul was hardly
moving ahead even without bags. Thank god that we did not get any injury or
something like that. At 3:00PM, we got a good place where camping can be done.
After looking here and there, we finalized one place to camp and meanwhile, the
fighter Rahul also reached there.
Light snow fall was getting heavy, tiny snow particles now
became sago (Sabudana ). HKD was 5 KM from here and the view was amazing from
our camp. There was one other bangoli’s group staying there, they were on back
trek. Prateek and Rahul are best in making friends. Soon, they started using
their fire to cook maggi, boil water and cook MTR Dal makhani. We took our
dinner in tent and started discussing next day’s plan. Finally we came to the
decision, Rahul decided to stay here only for whole day (Or rather we forced
him to make this decision because carrying two bags, trekking was not possible
and we were not sure how far it is? Will it be possible to camp at HKD base?).
March 28, 2016: Base
camp to HKD to Base camp:
View from the tent at HKD Base Camp |
As a routine, I again woke up first at 7:00AM and when I
opened the zip of our tent, outside view was amazing.
Jassi coming out of the Tent |
The area which was brown when we slept was now bright white.
Snow was all over, our water source was frozen and when I saw the thermometer,
the temperature was 8° below zero (-8° Centigrade).
Before bridge, a Maggi Shop is there. |
I arranged the hot water. We left Rahul and our heavy bags
in tent, took small bags to carry ready to eat food, camera and medical kit only.
Now I and Jassi were on the way to HKD and since we had left heavy bags in
tent, so the speed was good. I knew that the new blood (Prateek) will catch us
soon even if he will start late. We came on a small bridge covered with snow
and a water fall beside that, wonderful scene.
Our fourth Partner, Prateek just before HKD. |
We crossed the bridge and soon we missed the actual path. We
were looking for the way and then Jassi seen it down but there was no
connecting path. So, we did little “Off Road” trek and met with the actual
path. Jassi was not feeling well, energy was too low and we both were feeling
headache. Even after taking rest, Jassi was not able to move and I started
looking into my bag for something. I got a small pack of “Masala Salt”, thanks
to my wife who forcefully kept that in my bag. Jassi took some salt and now he
was better, actually his blood presser was low. We were about to start again
when we heard, “Rasta kidhar se hai?” He was Prateek and following our
footsteps, he also missed the actual path. We called him to come down and then
started again with him. After taking few more breaks, looking at the sign
boards at every 25 meters, crossing snow patches, we finally reached the base
of HKD. A small river was flowing at its best, snow was all over, blue sky in
the background and we only three guys in the valley, what can be better than
this?
I and Jassi on the Destination |
Did some photography and gone to the GMVN guest house which
was closed and then seen an awesome view again, THE HAR KI DOON VALLEY was in
front of us.
The HKD Valley and Swarg Rohini Peak. Worth to trek. |
The “Swarg Rohini” peak was at its best, golden eagles were flying
in the valley.
After few clicks, we
separated out to spend some time alone and in this time, Jassi did an
adventures trip from heavy snow to the river. Actually, he took wrong path to
river and moving on snow is very risky. He had to enter into river and his
shoes got wet from inside. After taking some rest again, we started our back
trek. A family with GMVN staff came to stay there and Prateek decided to stay
there. We came to our base camp before sunset. Now, we were alone at the base
camp, so did campfire, cooked maggi, lots of gossip as Rahul was much better
now.
The camp area was made all dirty by the bangoli group,
wrappers and tissue papers were left all around. Why people don’t understand
the importance of cleanliness? Someone will stay here after you, what they will
call you? Please care the nature and make sure that you don’t leave plastic at
least. I collected all the plastic and decided to clean the route whatever we
can. As always, Jassi took to responsibility of collecting plastic wrappers
from the route in our back trek till Taluka. We carried all collected plastic
and dumped in DDN railway station’s dustbin. Kuddos to Jassi J
Note: The Shiva temple in HKD is about to build. People carried the Lord Shiva Idol in front of US. So, if someone tell you some mythical story about the temple, don't believe it. It is under construction, both story and temple :)
Jassi Distributing Sweets to the Pirates of the OSLA :) |
Village is not as
good as expected, plastic is all over in village and cleanliness is not
maintained. Do not expect any spirituality in these villages; they are as good
as any other village in any part of India except, they have wooden homes. Jassi
distributed some sweets to the children and we found one STD there, each of us
dialed to home at 10 rs/m. We heard that
there is a temple of “Duryodhan” so enquired in village. The fact is, there is
no duryodhan temple in any village on the route. “THIS IS A MYTH THAT THERE IS
DURYODHAN TEMPLE ON HKD ROUTE”. The temple is dedicated to “SOMESHWAR” who is
their kuldev. Prateek again decided to stay in OSLA. When we coming down, we
realized how difficult it would have been to climb Osla on first day,
especially for Rahul. So, we thanked again to that girl who suggested us to
stay in Seema. This was an easy day and we reached easily to “Gangad” village
before sunset. We were highly repelling to maggi now and food was must today.
After some enquiry, we got one person who agreed to serve food for us with stay
in our own tent. Rest of the evening, we visited village’s school, interacted
with many children, distributed sweets to the kids. A kid, “Mulayam Singh” gave
good info about Uttrakhand, local traditions and culture. Then we came to our
host’s house where food was being prepared and we saw some musical instruments
in room. I took Dholki, Jassi and Rahul were the singers and we started our
musical evening. We have got few kids in our audience. A girl “Amruta Chouhan”,
who was the volunteer cook for us also joined the audience and encouraged our
worst singing to continue. After a lot of entertainment, we took our dinner
went into our tent for the rest of the night.
The Gangad Village |
As I said, here we realized that Gangad is the best village
to stay and see the beauty. No kid will ask you for sweet, no one will ask you for
medicine and all are good, humble hosts. You will notice that they will reply
you with tag, “Koi Baat Nahi”. It is kind of a “No Problem”. We were noticing
this since long and also adapted to the same. Even in our back journey, bus
conductor said, “Koi baat nahi, I will return your money soon”. Rahul said,
“Take your time, KOI BAAT NAHI”. J
March 30, 2016: Gangad
Village to Taluka:
Present met the future |
This was the last day of trek, nothing much left and we
focused on to our trek. Taking continues breaks, we crossed the maggi stall and
our fourth partner, Prateek again joined us. Next, we met with a group of three
60+ years’ young guys. They came from the south India. They were regular
trekker and shared their experience of different treks. We did see our future
in them, clicked one shot and said bye to them.
When we came to Taluka, even the small steep of Taluka was
looking like giant and what we need was, only food. Luckily we got the open
hotel and ordered lunch. This was the best lunch of our life; we could not
recall when we had so nice lunch. After lunch, we got a taxi and again on the
top of the taxi, we came to Sankri. We stayed in GMVN guest house, had dinner
in a hotel and went on sleep.
On 31st March, we caught the second bus at 8:15AM
(First bus to DDN is at 5:30AM) and reached to DDN at 6:00PM. This was quite
comfortable journey without any sickness except Jassi who got cold diarrhea. Don’t
forget to take the security deposit back at Natwar check post. The journey was
kind of a boring after so nice trek. We got into the same hotel and saw
India-West Indies world cup semifinal which unfortunately we lost.
1st April was the rest day in DDN, we spent in
hotel and shopping in a local Mela. We got our trains on 2nd April
and headed back to home. In Delhi, I changed the train, again Goa express for
PUNE. Now this was the time for next book, “The Secrete of Nagas” which I
completed before PUNE.
Very well written and adventurous. Good Job for detailed insight!
ReplyDelete- Abhinav
Thank you sir :)
DeleteNicely told and a adventurous trek... I am going there in January 2017, is it possible to do this trek without guide porter like you did?
ReplyDeleteHey, Sorry for the late reply, actually very late :(. Yes, this is absolutely fine to trek it without a guide. Trek route is well defined and marked till the last point. You will also get fellow trekkers and locals to ask. Keep your stay and food arrangements, that is it.
DeleteOne more point, In jan, there might be snow from Sankri to Taluka and taxis might not be available. Also, you will have to trek a lot on snow so be prepared. If any issue, you can go to Kedarkantha which is usually a winter trek.
Delete